Duane's thoughts July 14, 2016

Hi everyone. I received something very unusual this week. In fact, it was the first time I have ever received anything like it in my entire life. I know that other people have received one of these. In fact, many people have received multiple ones but I never have. Not ever. What did I receive? (you might be wondering) OK, I’ll tell you. I received an invitation to my high school reunion. The Saratoga High School Class of 1976 40 Year Reunion, to be exact.

Now there are few very interesting things about this. First is that I am not at all surprised that I did not receive any before now and actually was very surprised to receive this one. You see, even though I actually do have a diploma from Saratoga High and even though it is dated 1976 and even though my twin brother did graduate from Saratoga High in 1976, I did not. I graduated from Monta Vista High. I actually transferred from Saratoga to Monta Vista mid year and attended Monta Vista for the last semester of my senior year. The reason that I have a diploma from Saratoga is that someone in the school office mailed one to me over the summer. I don’t know who.

I know that even though I transferred mid year to Monta Vista, Saratoga did not forget me. In fact, my picture appears in the Saratoga yearbook but is nowhere in the Monta Vista yearbook. (That might be why I have never received any invitations to Monta Vista reunions, either.) Also, during the spring when Saratoga seniors were voting on the Senior Mosts (Most Popular, Best Smile, Most Likely to Succeed, etc.) they created a new category for me and voted me the Most Likely to Secede. And since my twin brother was still going to Saratoga, a lot of people never even realized that I had left. That and I actually pulled more senior pranks at Saratoga than Monta Vista. But that’s another story...

With all that being said, I think I actually remember more people from my wife’s class (she graduated from Saratoga in 1977 - her 40 year reunion is next year) than from my own. I can only come up with four names from my Saratoga High class and one of those is my brother. So, what do you think? Should I go? I haven’t decided yet.

Over time, we get a lot of invitations. Some expected, some not. Some to things that we want and some to things that we don’t want. In Revelations 3:20 Jesus says: "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.” I know that a lot of us have heard that invitation and accepted it. But I also know that we know a lot of people who haven't heard the invitation yet, or who have but are still trying to decide what to do. So the question for us, then, is not whether we have received the invitation, but will we deliver it?

Coming up this week:

New Light, Friday night at 7:15, July 15

Anyone up for a beach trip? The weather has been perfect!

And if anyone has anything they would like prayer for or would like to talk with someone about, we are always available.

Allen Cheung - avaliant@gmail.com

Sudden Gurung - sgurung2s@yahoo.com

Veronica Conte - mail4veronica@gmail.com

Duane Fowler - dlfowler@comcast.net

Cheers,

Duane